I attended the Danny Dietz Dedication on July 4TH. It was really meaningful and wonderful, and I'm glad that I was able to be there. Shook hands with the Secretary of the Navy, and Tom Tancredo, and I was in the presence of high ranking military types and hero's. Saw one of my son's "bosses", and he told me that he couldn't promise to keep him safe, that my son could end up like Danny, but he said he could guarantee that he had the best leadership. Very hard words to hear for me. He went on to say how my son was one of the best pilots. With all of this I told him how I was very proud of him, but how I also hoped that he wouldn't re-enlist again. With that he said, "and that's why it's good that 'mom's' aren't the ones making the decision". Also spoke with several mom's that lost their son's in Iraq, that was really hard. So yes, I'm very glad that I was able to be there. I should have taped the news, as I didn't see any of the coverage, but being there in person was very important for me, and really meant alot.

My family reunion in Ireland was just wonderful. Meeting many cousins for the very first time was awesome. We live so far apart being the reason for not getting together sooner. Some came from Australia, England and here from the United States, along with the ones that live in Ireland. I wish we didn't live so far apart, as my cousins are just terrific and I wish that I could spend more time with them. This is the group shot of most of us that made the trip over to Horse Island where my grandparents home was and still stands behind us.

Had the best time in Ireland, Scotland and England. This trip was the trip of a lifetime for me. I really am very happy that I was able to go. I was sad that my kids weren't able to be with me and meet our relatives, but it'll have to be another time. I don't think I'll ever go back with the high expense and all, but who knows, it would be nice to think I could go back again with my son and daughter.

For me flying into London, and spending 2 days there was fun. Saw Buckingham Palace, missed seeing the queen by 10 minutes and half a block I like to say. My girlfriend who traveled with me, and I were strolling along not far from Buckingham Palace, unaware of the queen honoring the Falkland Island soldiers, but saw the fly overs and all the soldiers decked out in their uniforms with all of the medals dangling from them along with all of the added security. A woman said, oh wasn't the queen just grand?! We could have had we known. Oh well. While in London, we did one of those hop on hop off bus tours that drop you off at all of the sites, so we saw everything there. Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral, the Tower, Piccadilly, a ride on the Thames, just everything. We also went to a live theater performance of 'The Hounds Of Baskerville' which was a real hoot.

We then flew into Edinburgh Scotland, toured the Castle there, and the royal mile which is incredible as well. I'm still mad at myself for not buying a kilt there. Anyway, Scotland was fabulous. We also took a bus tour up to Loch Ness and it stopped at several castles and other tourist stops. Our tour guide Fiona, said how they don't like to refer to the Loch Ness monster as the monster, rather they refer to her as the Sea Creature. She added that while she's never seen her, her mom has. ;)

We then flew into Dublin. Saw the Dublin Castle and the Cathedral. Saw the Blarney castle kissing the Blarney stone, ran into my brother's family in the gift shoppe there, that was crazy, but with all of our families converging on our family reunion it was probably bound to happen. Seeing the family and the reunion was just fabulous. The family reunion, seeing Horse Island, going over to the Skelligs Island, all were just incredible. My grandparents house on Horse Island (picture above) was still standing, I was told that the structure was around 300 years old. The roof had caved in and no one was living in it obviously, the Island is inhabited with only sheep. The last cousin to leave the house was in 1959. After the reunion, we went up to Cahriciveen and met another cousin Mary at the gift shoppe and she showed us the cathedral where my grandmother, was baptized, confirmed and married there. We continued up towards Galway and saw the Cliffs of Moher, just beautiful, also saw the Burren area. This had 3000 BC stone structures that were just amazing to see. We took a tour and the tour guide was telling us about how the Irishmen were building stone walls and eating beef while the pyramids were being built. Quite the comparison, I didn't realize that folks even lived in Ireland, that part of the world back then.

All of the experiences of the narrow roads and driving on them, driving with the stick shift on the left, no sidewalks with everyone pushing strollers, riding bikes and electric wheelchairs on the twisty turny narrow roads was quite the experience that I will never forget. Especially with the speed limit being 100 KM's! The bed and breakfasts were charming, the breakfasts were great too. One thing that surprised me was that not many accepted VISA, making it necessary to carry alot of cash with you. It seems that Ireland is just now coming into it's own, that it has been pretty depressed economically up until now. I asked someone about if they ever planned on widening the roads, and they said no, that it would only encourage more folks to move there. It was great going to all of these countries and having everyone speaking English. Although the accents even of some of my relatives was hard to understand sometimes. I loved all of the Guinness, the fact that our reunion was held in a pub that obviously many were regulars there.